The Theory of Everything... Behind The Scenes

                    Eddie Redmayne & Stephen Hawking (photo from google)

So most of us have heard about the genius bound to a wheelchair speaking through a machine, Stephen Hawking. If you haven't The Theory Of Everything starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, is a biographical drama film based on Stephen Hawking's personal life and his struggles with ALS. This film was nominated for best picture, best actor (Redmayne), best actress (Jones), best adapted screenplay, and best original score at the 87th Academy Awards. Eddie Redmayne was the only one to win on both the Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. However, what are the challenges? What did the actors go through in order to achieve such great film?

Based on countless interviews from the actors and director, on of the biggest challenges was Eddie Redmayne's physical preparation to portray Stephen Hawking's progress from a healthy young man to where he is at right now. Redmayne had to first get himself educated about the condition so he visited ASL hospitals in order to get himself familiarized with what he was going to be portraying. After that he had to go to a dance instructor in order to show Redmayne how to control his muscles individually and how to shorten them. Since the filming is not done in sequence, Redmayne was jumping from when Hawking was first diagnosed with ASL to when ASL was very advanced in his body so Redmayne had to learn how to change his muscles completely in that same day. 

Both Redmayne and Jones met the actual Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking with their children. For both actors that was an unforgettable experience and also a nerve wrecking experience because they were in instances performing in front of the actual people they were portraying. Redmayne says that when he first met Stephen Hawking he spent the first 40 minutes talking to Stephen Hawking about Stephen Hawking. In order to achieve his role Redmayne Spend months preparing for his role and did countless studying on Hawking and his life. He studied every video there was of him and every photograph in order to grasp what Stephen was going through.